In 1986 one of the most infamous art heists in Australian history was carried out at the National Gallery in Melbourne. Now, 38 years later we have the painting back but we still don’t know whodunit. Let’s discuss.

Very interesting case this week about a talented artist who found himself in the world of art forgeries. Let’s find out how he got there and what happened when he was found out, I promise you this isn’t going to end the way you’re thinking.

Today we’re going to talk about a work of art that is sometimes credited for a moment that incited the beginning of the Culture Wars in the 1990s. It drew admiration, widespread critique, debate, controversy, and, most importantly to this article, vandalism. 

Spoiler alert: in 1961 Francisco de Goya’s painting, Portrait of the Duke of Wellington was stolen from the National Gallery in London. For more than 50 years following the theft the identity of the thief and their motivation remained a mystery.

In 1990 a groundbreaking trial happened in Cincinnati, Ohio where perceptions of art, public funding, freedom of expression, and the definition of “obscenity” were challenged. Let’s unpack this one together.

Sorry, the title is a little click bait-y but it was too cute to resist! In 1928 a painting done by an avant-garde Hungarian painter was stolen leaving no trace behind. It wasn’t until Christmas 2009, and one very important movie viewing, that this mystery started to be unraveled.

In 1961 Aix, a city in the French region of Provence, was trying to attract tourists and make a name for itself as a destination. They had the idea to host art shows and traveling exhibitions as a way of getting their name out there. Little did they know what would happen when they did.

Today we’re tackling a bit of a sensitive issue; is there a line that art should not cross? This is at the core of the work we will be examining as an example as it uses something so sacred and symbolic to some in a way they find reprehensible. But, it’s meant to make a statement, right?

Even if you’ve never seen a van Gogh painting or know anything about his work I’m SURE you know that he cut off his ear. There are lots of stories and speculation around why and whether or not he sent it to someone. Let’s get to the bottom of it.

Today we’re going way WAY back and talking about possibly the first ever art heist, I feel like this is probably unlikely but it’s often referred to as the first known art heist. Let’s go!

Some of you may remember an article I wrote back in 2020 about criminals who had taken advantage of the Covid lockdown to steal various painting, one of them being a van Gogh. Well, just a couple weeks ago that painting was recovered! Here’s the story.

Some of you may already be aware of this case but I’ll try to make it fun to relearn about it. In the 1960s multiple cases of art fraud were discovered, specifically relating to the Group of Seven, an iconic Canadian art collective, what ensued landed two people in prison.

I can already hear you asking who Joseph Boehm is. Don’t worry, I didn’t know either. He was a Victorian era sculptor and artist. We’ll talk about his work and of course his scandalous and mysterious death.

Here we have an interesting case, where we examine a huge collection of cultural objects and antiquities that were seized by the FBI in 2014 and then, fast forward to 2022 and even earlier this year in 2023, how the US government is going about repatriating some of these items.

The absolutely iconic movie The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland, was actually not the first colour film but everyone remembers the moment Dorothy steps into Oz and emerges in colour, complete with her ruby slippers. So it makes sense that this iconic pair of shoes would be a target for collectors and thieves alike.

Seems like people in Canada have really latched onto the idea that creating fake Indigenous art is going to get them lots of money. Ultimately, as we’ve seen before and we’ll see again today, these fraudsters always get found out.

This week we’ve got a homegrown Canadian crime for you. One of the most famous photographs of Winston Churchill, shot by a Canadian photographer was stolen from an iconic hotel in Ottawa. But how? And where is it now?

Wow, yet another one from the FBI’s top 10 art crimes list! Here we’ve got a Dutch master’s self-portrait stolen during visiting hours at a gallery in New South Wales, Australia. It is extremely valuable which makes it not super surprising that they haven’t found it yet.

Strap in for a complicated story today of art fraud that spans years, different artists and countries and even involves an aspiring actor from Montreal. This one’s going to be a ride.

Here we go again, this week we’ve got another crime that’s on the FBI’s list of top 10 art crimes. This one’s a bit of a head-scratcher involving the Whitney family and the highest-paid commercial artist during the 1920s.